Dados do Trabalho

Título

Ethnic Differences in Survival Among Brazilian Modern-era Olympic Medalists from 1920 to 1992.A cohort study

Introdução e/ou fundamentos

Several studies support the survival advantage of the Olympians over the general population. However, none considered Latin American athletes or checked life expectancy differences between white and non-white Olympians. The aim of this study is to compare survival after the first medal won among white and non-white Brazilian Olympian medallists from 1920 to 1992.

Métodos

In a retrospective cohort study based on trustworthy sources, we determined the vital status of all Brazilian Olympians who won their first medal between 1920 and 1992. Athletes were divided into white and non-white groups based on structured ethnicity determination. The Kaplan–Meier analyses calculated the restricted mean survival time (RMST) for each ethnic group. A Cox proportional hazards survival analysis was used to check differences in survival by ethnicity were significant after adjusting for medal-winning age and birth year.

Resultados

N=123 Brazilians (all men; 25.03±4.8 years) won their first medal. Ninety-one (73.9%) were white. Throughout the study period, 17 (18.7%) white and 12 (37.5%) non-white athletes had died (p=0.031). The mean death age was 75.10±18.01 and 67.13±14.90 years (p=0.109) and RMST was 51.59 (95% CI 49.79-53.39) and 45.026 (95% CI 41.31-48.74) for white and non-white (ΔRMST=6.56; 95% CI 2.43-10.70; p=0.0018), respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that non-whites had an HR=5.584 (95% CI 2.179-14.31) for mortality compared to white athletes.

Discussão

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to address the life expectancy of developing world Olympians and how ethnic differences can influence it. After conquering an Olympic medal, non-white athletes lived 6.56 years less than their white counterparts. Their hazard of dying throughout the study period was more than five times higher. The reasons behind the differences in life expectancy between white and non-white  Brazilian Olympias are multifactorial. However, they probably do not differ from those highlighted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Health and education access inequalities; higher levels of urban violence, among other social disparities, account for the higher vulnerability of black Brazilians leading to their lower lifespan.

Conclusões

After winning their first medal, white Brazilian Olympians enjoy more than six years of life than their non-white counterparts. The mortality gap between white and non-white Brazilians is also present among elite athletes